Fascinating food in New York and occasionally farther afield

Charlotte Bakery and Cafe Charlotte

Window seats are wonderful for watching the world go by.

The entryways to this pan-Latin bakery and its sister cafe are flanked by snug, elevated seating niches that once may have been intended with quite the opposite purpose: for passersby to come and have a look. The bakery, which opened in the 1990s, later supplanted the tattoo parlor next door and installed the cafe. Their design, however, suggests that the original tenants were retail shops for which a window display would have been vital. I'm guessing apparel. (Via Facebook, a respondent for the bakery stated that it was preceded by a pizzeria, and before that, a hardware store, adding that "around Miami Beach, many places have these door fronts.")

Also shown: a pear tart, from some years back, and a sign advertising empanadas in the styles of four nations: Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia.